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Issues Delaying Choice Of Atiku’s Running Mate

The possibility of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)
settling for a replacement for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo from the
Southeast and intrigues by politicians jostling to be chosen are some of
the reasons the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) standard bearer,
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, might delay the announcement of his running mate
till the last minute.

Shortly after Atiku clinched the first
position in PDP presidential primary election last Sunday in Port
Harcourt, a lot of players from both the Southeast and Southwest began
making serious moves and sending representations to the party’s
substantive presidential candidate seeking to be considered for the vice
presidential ticket.

Although sources within the Abubakar Atiku
Presidential Campaign Organisation confided in The Guardian that the
PDP presidential candidate has not penciled down a prospective running
mate, it was gathered that some names have started popping up now and
then as possible candidates.

The Guardian learned that
considerations as to whether the presidential running mate would come
from Southeast or Southwest brought a new twist to the search as well as
the strategic need to accommodate the inputs of some critical
stakeholders that oiled the machinery for Atiku’s eventual emergence as
the PDP numero uno.

“Recall that former President Olusegun
Obasanjo, Atiku’s former principal, had mooted the idea of Southeast
having a shot at the Presidency in 2019.” A source within PDP said. “But
somewhere along the line Baba argued for a presidential running mate
and even went further to suggest the name of Mazi Osita Chidoka.

“Chidoka’s
eventual exit from the United Progressive Party (UPP), on which
platform he contested the November 2017 gubernatorial election back to
PDP should not be treated lightly. But, other suggestions have been made
for a technocrat with international pedigree to pair up with Wazirin
Adamawa.”

But no sooner had Chidoka’s name escaped Obasanjo’s
lips than many foundation members of PDP, who have eyes on the 2023
presidential election, began clandestine lobbying for a technocrat to be
paired with the former vice president.

It was against that
notion that names of former Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
Prof. Chukwuma Soludo and Prof. Barth Nnaji surfaced, ostensibly to push
back on the considerations being given to the immediate past governor
of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi.

Those who are pushing for
Okonjo-Iweala argue that her Delta/Abia combination origin based on
paternity and marriage achieves the Southeast/South-South solidarity in
addition to her clout in the international community.

Meanwhile,
pressures are said to be mounting also from the Southwest, which claims
that ceding the presidential running mate to the zone would go a long
way to mitigate the loss of the national chairmanship during last
December national convention.The name of incumbent President of
African Development Bank (AfDB) and former Minister of Agriculture,
Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina, is being touted as a feasible candidate on the
score of Southwest accommodation and buy-in of the international
community.

Southwest lobbyists are also waving the flag of
speculated plots by the Presidency to fetch Osinbajo’s replacement from
the Southeast as running mate for President Muhammadu Buhari in next
year’s election to convince the region of its sincerity of ceding power
to the zone after Buhari.

While the Southeast and Southwest push
their arguments for PDP to select the next vice presidential candidate
from their zones, multiple sources told The Guardian that Atiku was
moved by the fact of Senator David Mark’s position on gender balance to
consider Okonjo-Iweala in addition to her knowledge of international
finance and development issues.

Senator Mark had, while
addressing PDP delegates at the Adokie Amasiemeka Stadium, Port
Harcourt, last Saturday, noted that he was the only presidential
aspirant among the one dozen to appoint a woman as Director General of
his campaign organization.

It was also gathered that former
President Obasanjo is excited by the likelihood of Okonjo-Iweala being
adopted, which prompted his recent comments that a president
knowledgeable in economic matters is what Nigeria needs to fix the
damage done by the present administration to the economy.

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Issues Delaying Choice Of Atiku’s Running Mate

The possibility of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)
settling for a replacement for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo from the
Southeast and intrigues by politicians jostling to be chosen are some of
the reasons the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) standard bearer,
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, might delay the announcement of his running mate
till the last minute.

Shortly after Atiku clinched the first
position in PDP presidential primary election last Sunday in Port
Harcourt, a lot of players from both the Southeast and Southwest began
making serious moves and sending representations to the party’s
substantive presidential candidate seeking to be considered for the vice
presidential ticket.

Although sources within the Abubakar Atiku
Presidential Campaign Organisation confided in The Guardian that the
PDP presidential candidate has not penciled down a prospective running
mate, it was gathered that some names have started popping up now and
then as possible candidates.

The Guardian learned that
considerations as to whether the presidential running mate would come
from Southeast or Southwest brought a new twist to the search as well as
the strategic need to accommodate the inputs of some critical
stakeholders that oiled the machinery for Atiku’s eventual emergence as
the PDP numero uno.

“Recall that former President Olusegun
Obasanjo, Atiku’s former principal, had mooted the idea of Southeast
having a shot at the Presidency in 2019.” A source within PDP said. “But
somewhere along the line Baba argued for a presidential running mate
and even went further to suggest the name of Mazi Osita Chidoka.

“Chidoka’s
eventual exit from the United Progressive Party (UPP), on which
platform he contested the November 2017 gubernatorial election back to
PDP should not be treated lightly. But, other suggestions have been made
for a technocrat with international pedigree to pair up with Wazirin
Adamawa.”

But no sooner had Chidoka’s name escaped Obasanjo’s
lips than many foundation members of PDP, who have eyes on the 2023
presidential election, began clandestine lobbying for a technocrat to be
paired with the former vice president.

It was against that
notion that names of former Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
Prof. Chukwuma Soludo and Prof. Barth Nnaji surfaced, ostensibly to push
back on the considerations being given to the immediate past governor
of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi.

Those who are pushing for
Okonjo-Iweala argue that her Delta/Abia combination origin based on
paternity and marriage achieves the Southeast/South-South solidarity in
addition to her clout in the international community.

Meanwhile,
pressures are said to be mounting also from the Southwest, which claims
that ceding the presidential running mate to the zone would go a long
way to mitigate the loss of the national chairmanship during last
December national convention.The name of incumbent President of
African Development Bank (AfDB) and former Minister of Agriculture,
Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina, is being touted as a feasible candidate on the
score of Southwest accommodation and buy-in of the international
community.

Southwest lobbyists are also waving the flag of
speculated plots by the Presidency to fetch Osinbajo’s replacement from
the Southeast as running mate for President Muhammadu Buhari in next
year’s election to convince the region of its sincerity of ceding power
to the zone after Buhari.

While the Southeast and Southwest push
their arguments for PDP to select the next vice presidential candidate
from their zones, multiple sources told The Guardian that Atiku was
moved by the fact of Senator David Mark’s position on gender balance to
consider Okonjo-Iweala in addition to her knowledge of international
finance and development issues.

Senator Mark had, while
addressing PDP delegates at the Adokie Amasiemeka Stadium, Port
Harcourt, last Saturday, noted that he was the only presidential
aspirant among the one dozen to appoint a woman as Director General of
his campaign organization.

It was also gathered that former
President Obasanjo is excited by the likelihood of Okonjo-Iweala being
adopted, which prompted his recent comments that a president
knowledgeable in economic matters is what Nigeria needs to fix the
damage done by the present administration to the economy.

Thanks For Reading! Please Support us...

Kevin Djakpor Blog is editorially independent - our journalism is free and accessible. But the revenue we get from advertising is falling, so we increasingly need our readers like you to support us. Support Kevin Djakpor Blog with as little as $1

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